Elvis lookalikes All Shook Up

Elvis impersonators were all shook up tonight as the King rocked to the top of the UK charts on the weekend they celebrated the largest Elvis Presley Convention in Europe.

Singer Leigh Casling left more than 200 Elvis hopefuls in heartbreak hotel to scoop first prize in the Elvis contest on what would have been the Rock ’n’ Roll legend’s 70th birthday.

His victory came as the re-release of Jailhouse Rock knocked Steve Brookstein off the number one spot to become the 999th song to reach the top of the UK singles chart.

Mr Casling, from St Alban’s, Hertfordshire, was among hundreds of followers at the Walk A Golden Mile In My Shoes Elvis Convention in Blackpool this weekend.

The grounds maintenance manager, who only did his first gig as Elvis in March last year, competed against 39 other look-a-likes to scoop a £2,000 (€2,900) win in the annual contest last night.

He said today he hoped the massive interest in Jailhouse Rock and the expected release of each of Presley’s number one singles over the next few months would help him take to the stage full-time.

He said: “He is a phenomenon. Whether you like him or not he is the greatest thing that ever lived. In my opinion he invented the X-factor.

“There is only one Elvis. I was brought up with Elvis. I knew the words of every song by the time I was seven.

“With all the interest in him now and this amazing prize under my belt I feel like I can fly.

“If you can go out there and make people go as crazy as that and get paid for it you have got to do it. Elvis did it and the organisers said I was the best young Elvis in the world.

“I was completely blown away. Unbelievable. I am still trying to make it sink in.”

The 37-year-old, who dressed as Elvis in the film GI Blues and sang Looking For Trouble as his winning number, is now looking to take on his American rivals in a competition.

The three-day event, which included a Las Vegas-style wedding blessing presided over by an Elvis lookalike, was organised by impersonators Michael King and Martin Fox.

Elvis’s best friend and spiritual mentor Larry Geller was at the convention, along with his costume designer Gene Doucette who brought a collection of the singer’s famous jumpsuits.

Mr King, an Elvis impersonator from north Wales, said: “Elvis will never stop. He is now and he always will be number one.

“We knew the event was going to be special but something clicked this weekend. If Elvis is looking down on us I think he would be smiling.”